attribute

American  

[uh-trib-yoot, a-truh-byoot] / əˈtrɪb jut, ˈæ trəˌbjut /

verb (used with object)

• attributes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• attributed,
  past participle,  past
• attributing
  present participle

1. to regard as resulting from a specified cause; consider as caused by something indicated (usually followed byto ).

   She attributed his bad temper to ill health.

2. to consider as a quality or characteristic of the person, thing, group, etc., indicated.

   He attributed intelligence to his colleagues.

3. to consider as made by the one indicated, especially with strong evidence but in the absence of conclusive proof.

   to attribute a painting to an artist.

4. to regard as produced by or originating in the time, period, place, etc., indicated; credit; assign.

   to attribute a work to a particular period; to attribute a discovery to a particular country.

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noun

• attributes
  plural

1. something attributed as belonging to a person, thing, group, etc.; a quality, character, characteristic, or property.

   Sensitivity is one of his attributes.

2. something used as a symbol of a particular person, office, or status.

   A scepter is one of the attributes of a king.

3. Grammar. a word or phrase that is syntactically subordinate to another and serves to limit, identify, particularize, describe, or supplement the meaning of the form with which it is in construction. In the red house, red is an attribute of house.

4. Fine Arts. an object associated with or symbolic of a character, office, or quality, as the keys of St. Peter or the lion skin of Hercules.

5. Philosophy. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) any of the essential qualifications of God, thought and extension being the only ones known.

6. Logic. (in a proposition) that which is affirmed or denied concerning the subject.

7. Obsolete. distinguished character; reputation.

attribute British  

/ ˌætrɪˈbjuːʃən /

verb

1. to regard as belonging (to), produced (by), or resulting (from); ascribe (to)

   to attribute a painting to Picasso

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noun

1. a property, quality, or feature belonging to or representative of a person or thing

2. an object accepted as belonging to a particular office or position

3. grammar

   1. an adjective or adjectival phrase

   2. an attributive adjective

4. logic the property, quality, or feature that is affirmed or denied concerning the subject of a proposition

Synonym Usage

Attribute, ascribe, impute imply definite origin. Attribute and ascribe are often used interchangeably, to imply that something originates with a definite person or from a definite cause. Ascribe, however, has neutral implications; whereas, possibly because of an association with tribute, attribute is coming to have a complimentary connotation: to ascribe an accident to carelessness; to attribute one's success to a friend's encouragement. Impute has gained uncomplimentary connotations, and usually means to accuse or blame someone or something as a cause or origin: to impute an error to him. See quality.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• attributer
  noun
• attribution
  noun
• attributor
  noun
• misattribute
  verb
• reattribute
  verb (used with object)
• attributable
  adjective
• unattributed
  adjective
• well-attributed
  adjective
• unattributably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• attributes
  plural

Participles

• attributing
  present
• attributed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• attribute
  simple
• attributes
  simple
• have attributed
  perfect
• has attributed
  perfect
• am attributing
  progressive
• are attributing
  progressive
• is attributing
  progressive
• have been attributing
  perfect progressive
• has been attributing
  perfect progressive

Past

• attributed
  simple
• had attributed
  perfect
• was attributing
  progressive
• were attributing
  progressive
• had been attributing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will attribute
  simple
• will have attributed
  perfect
• will be attributing
  progressive
• will have been attributing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of attribute

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin attribūtus “allotted, assigned, imputed to” (past participle of attribuere ), equivalent to at- “toward” + tribū- (stem of tribuere “to assign (to tribes), classify, ascribe”; see at-, tribe) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

An attribute is a quality or characteristic given to a person, group, or some other thing. Your best attribute might be your willingness to help others, like when you stopped traffic so the duck family could cross the street. Attribute comes from the Latin verb attribuere, which is made up the prefix ad, meaning "to," and tribuere meaning "give or bestow." As a verb, to attribute is to give credit, like if you attribute the A on your test to all that hard studying. In Greek and Roman mythology an attribute will often stand in for a character such as Zeus's lightning bolt or Poseidon's trident.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

attribute attributes attributed attributing

Staff on the 9/11 Commission objected to the conclusion that Bayoumi was "unlikely" to have been involved with extremists, prompting the report to attribute this to "our investigators who have dealt directly with him"

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The study, however, didn’t attribute the lengthening delays to flaws in the single-payer system, but rather to the increasing complexity of cancer care and changes in hospital practices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Klein also points out that despite the uptick in bond yields that many commentators attribute to unsustainable fiscal deficits has caused “so far zero evidence of any looming slowdown in U.S. economic data.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

The WHO verifies and records attacks on healthcare but does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

This is the one attribute at which I'm not below average: body heft.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

She partly attributes this confusion to her writing style.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Hikaru Sulu on the show, attributes “Star Trek’s” core values to Roddenberry’s beliefs and ideals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

The performance in Portugal highlighted why those in power at City believe he has all attributes to "develop into a world class talent" and he clearly enjoys playing on the biggest stage.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

"Malick has all the attributes to thrive in the Premier League," said Sunderland's Director of Football, Florent Ghisolfi.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

As proof, she announced the creation of a Zea diploperennis-gamagrass hybrid in the laboratory that displayed the attributes of ancient maize.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

He attributed that to delays in the ramp of Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin AI platform, which includes both its Vera CPUs and Rubin graphics processing units.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Even among those who did, many blamed the epidemic on miasma—conditions attributed to odors, stagnant water or unseen particles in the atmosphere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Fifth seed Flavio Cobolli said he lacked energy in a third-round defeat, which he attributed to his volume of matches and New York's sapping heat.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The researchers also examined how much of the snowfall increase could be attributed to anthropogenic forcing.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

This he attributed to the fact that the people had become conscious of their needs and their own strength.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

But he felt out of place at home, attributing his desire to leave Germany to his country’s “tall-poppy” syndrome—the idea that successful people get criticized and cut down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

While Netflix does not offer a free service, the streaming giant in October 2022 began offering a lower-priced ad-supported option, later attributing the offering with a boost in subscription counts.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

“The money lies in the RBIs,” Kent said while attributing that quote to Lasorda during his speech.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

In San Francisco, pending sales of luxury homes rose nearly 46% year over year, Redfin said, attributing the increase to the boom in artificial intelligence.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

Meanwhile, her new husband fluttered among the diners attributing his mother-in-law’s absence to a sudden attack of asthma and his bride’s tears to the emotions of the occasion.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• aspect
• characteristic
• facet
• idiosyncrasy
• peculiarity
• quality
• quirk
• trait
• virtue